"Ghost" Trigun x reader

Mister Criminal

'How the hell do you do this on the regular?!' you cried out to Vash as you dug your foot out of the sand, yet again.

Of course, that little sucker only laughed like you had told the funniest joke ever.

'Can you imagine if you felt the heat?' he teased back.

You rolled your eyes and tried your best to resume the walk. You didn't know if it was your mind playing tricks on you after spending so much time under the direct sunlight, but you had started to feel a bit stuffy.

'Can't believe you willingly do this, still. Why don't you stay longer in towns? Like, I know there's buses doing the transit at least once in a while.'

When Vash didn't answer immediately, you looked at him with a raised eyebrow. For some reason that question seemed to have weighed on his mood a bit.

'I can't really afford to stay too long in one place, I have a bad habit of attracting trouble.'

You waited for him to explain more, but he never did. You assumed being the most wanted man in No Man's Land came with quite a number of problems.

The rest of the day went by rather fast. You had already taken to the habit of simply focusing on your steps and using your shadow to keep track of time. By the time the suns were setting you were already fantasizing about removing your shoes and wiggling your toes free of all the sand they had accumulated.

That night you were a bit luckier with the location of the resting spot you came across; finding a crook in a rock that protected the fire from the harsh night winds and made you feel less exposed.

As per his habit, Vash sat down a few feet from you and took his first drink of the day.

'Putting my passing away from exhaustion aside, won't you die at this rate? Not eating or drinking?' you asked in concern.

'Ah,' he exclaimed softly, 'I'll be fine, it's a... plant thing.'

He seemed embarrassed telling you that, which only fuelled your curiosity. For some reason you enjoyed seeing him flustered like this.

'So, how does that work by the way? How come you're not in a bulb like the others?'

You smiled seeing him avoid eye contact as he focused on explaining to you what it meant to be an 'Independent' plant. The more he talked, the more you felt fascinated by the ramifications of his existence.

When he was done talking, he gave you a concerned look which confused you more than anything.

'You have to promise to keep this between us. Humans finding out about independents...it's not the right time yet.'

You stared at him, feeling sad at seeing such worry in his clear blue puppy-like eyes. Would it hurt to try and lift his mood?

"Oh, really?' you started with a mischievous smile, 'I don't agree. I think I'll tell everyone I see from now on. 'Vash the Stampede is an independent plant!', I think it would make a great headline, don't you?"

'Luck!' Vash cried out with a look of outrage and concern, straightening himself from his sitting position.

You couldn't help but giggle at his reaction.

'Of course, I'm not sure anyone would hear me. Ya know, the whole ghost thing and whatnot?'

Catching on, the blond man gave you a pout and slouched back down, 'Meanie'.

'Yeah, yeah,' you threw your hands in fake-surrender but with a proud smile.

You stayed silent observing the blond outlaw afterward. He had his arms crossed on his chest and a leg on top of the other in the position he usually took to sleep. You knew he was aware of your staring but with the last couple of days he seemed to have grown used to it, and you've even caught him staring back at you on a few occasions. Both of you appeared to still be curious about the other. And it was that curiosity that pushed you to resume your questioning: